Careers

Experiences

Industries

Offices

Our Firm

Pages

Our People

Updates

Practices

Home - Warner Norcross + Judd LLP

Capabilities and connections – These are the overarching benefits that Warner’s Closely Held Businesses team offers to its clients. We adeptly handle all of the various legal aspects of your business – and we do so in a “whole company” context that ensures nothing falls through the cracks. For emerging and established companies, beyond the governing areas of law, we actively seek ways to connect you to just the right people and resources to match your needs and situation at any given time.

contentpilot/introduction

core/heading

That is because, aside from some of our publicly traded clients, each of our business and corporate clients falls into this “closely held” category – ranging from those solopreneurs just starting a side hustle to global, multinational corporations with hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Drawing upon the collective strengths of our full-service firm, we are ready to respond to any legal challenge or requirement that may arise for your business, partnership and/or limited liability company. This includes issues, concerns and opportunities related to corporate and general business law, human resources, employee benefits, tax, real estate and well beyond. We listen intently to you and gain a deep understanding of your business and where you want to go – only then do we craft a strategy to help you get there.

core/paragraph

While closely held and family businesses share most “standard” corporate concerns, they often present a host of other highly nuanced issues, related to estate and income-tax planning, and retirement and succession, among others. Having worked with hundreds of private and family businesses in Michigan and beyond, including many family-owned businesses spanning multiple generations, we bring tremendous experience, understanding and practical insight to everything we do for you.

Let us develop the structures and strategies that will keep your business goals in mind, while remaining sensitive and responsive to the dynamics of your family and closely-knit management teams. Need assistance with high capital investment or other financing? We’ve got you covered. We team well and often with our clients’ accountants and non-legal tax and other advisors. For many of our clients, we were their first attorney – many also initially come to us to handle a single, possibly urgent matter in a specific practice area. But very often and in short order, we have earned the honor of becoming their outside “general” counsel and trusted advisor for almost all matters, including day-to-day operations.

Like a coach, we are continuously scanning the field for our clients, looking for potential issues and new opportunities, and then sending in the right players to make things happen. Unlike many firms, we have amassed a roster of regional and national thought leaders and leading practitioners in most of the practice areas we touch. And yet – everything gets done with an understanding of the communities and markets in which you, your suppliers and your customers are located. We are there with you.

What We See on the Horizon for Closely-Held Businesses

Reach out to your Warner Closely Held Businesses team for the latest insights into the following:

The continuously shifting legislative landscape

Closely held businesses are always looking ahead, trying to figure out what’s next in terms of tax laws and rates, and how they should modify their business and succession plans accordingly. But complicated and often conflicting new tax proposals seemingly never stop coming, perhaps in part due to their political ties. How is a business supposed to keep track and keep up? Let us help you keep an eye on what may be looming on the horizon, sorting it out and alerting you as to when – and how – you need to act.

A New Urgency to Growth and Succession Planning

The need to plan for new generations in closely held and family businesses is certainly nothing new. But, as heightened by the increasing pace and scope of technological and other cultural change, generational gaps – arising from different expectations and ways of experiencing the world – may now be wider than they have been in the past. This makes the need for communication and careful planning for the future more urgent than ever before, in order to ensure the continued vibrancy and success of your workforce, leadership and ownership base. Warner can help you with every stage of this process.

When faced with pandemic-related challenges, most closely held and family businesses innovated or least muscled their way through. But COVID-19 proved to be a useful stress test and perhaps a wake-up call as well, forcing us to face our vulnerabilities in a new way. The next crisis may look quite different – and perhaps it will only be an internal one, for example, involving a data breach or privacy issue – but its reputational and financial impact may be just as devastating. Now, more than ever, companies need to build resilient, flexible defenses that can withstand both expected growing pains and unexpected future catastrophes. This is what we help clients do.

contentpilot/expand-more

Closely Held Business Sub-Practice Group Image - cropped

Automotive

Automotive TEST LAI

Craft Brewery

Warner Ranked Top-Tier Law Firm by Best Lawyers®, U.S. News & World Report

105 Warner Attorneys Rated Best Lawyers in America©

Corinne N. Sprague Selected for Leadership Grand Rapids

Warner Partner Ford J.H. Turrell Honored by Michigan Lawyers Weekly

Warner Welcomes Three New Attorneys

Warner Partner Bruce C. Young Honored by Inclusion in Michigan Lawyers Weekly 2022 Hall of Fame

Partner

Loren Andrulis

Jeffrey S. “Jeff” Battershall

Sean H. Cook

Matthew M. “Matt” Crowe

Of Counsel

Cameron S. “Cam” DeLong

Carl W. Dufendach

Susan “Susie” Gell Meyers

Associate

John C. Muhs

Beth L. O’Laughlin

Jeffrey A. “Jeff” Ott

Executive Partner

Jennifer L. Remondino

Gregory E. “Greg” Schmidt

Michael H. “Mike” Schubert

Corinne N. Sprague

James J. “Jim” Steffel

Ford J. H. Turrell

W. Michael “Mike” Van Haren

A New Twist for Family Businesses: Shareholder Oppression Claims Are Not Just for Minority Shareholders Anymore

Corporate

Trusts and Estates

Closely Held Businesses

<ul>
<li>Antitrust and unfair competition</li>
<li>Banking law</li>
<li>Business start-ups and early round financing</li>
<li>CMBS special servicers</li>
<li>Commercial contracts</li>
<li>Commercial finance law</li>
<li>Commercial transactions law</li>
<li>Consumer product safety law</li>
<li>Corporate and general business law</li>
<li>Corporate governance</li>
<li>Employee benefits</li>
<li>Estate planning</li>
<li>Family offices</li>
<li>Financial services</li>
<li>Franchise law</li>
<li>Funds and investment services</li>
<li>Human resources</li>
<li>Income tax planning</li>
<li>Mergers and acquisitions</li>
<li>Private client</li>
<li>Real estate</li>
<li>Securities and corporate governance</li>
<li>Succession planning</li>
</ul>

Strengths Snapshot

The Warner Norcross + Judd LLP lawyer responsible for the contents of our advertising and this website is managing partner <a href="/people/mark-j-wassink/" aria-label="Mark Wassink">Mark Wassink</a> who can be reached at <a href="mailto:mwassink@wnj.com" aria-label="email Mark Wassink">mwassink@wnj.com</a> or 616.752.2189. Please read our full <a href="/privacy-policy/" aria-label="see privacy policy">privacy policy</a> available on our website.

Strengths Snapshot

news

publications

professionals